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West Mountain Complex Daily Update 08-24-2024
Wolf Creek Fire, Boulder Fire, Snag Fire, Goat Fire, Dollar Fire
Publication Type: News - 08/24/2024 - 09:22
QUICK FACTS
Fire Location Size Containment Start Date
Boulder 9 miles SW of Cascade 2,313 acres 44% 7/24/2024
Wolf Creek 5 miles W of Donnelly 1,154 acres 95% 7/24/2024
Snag 11 miles E of Cascade 25,235 acres 3% 8/5/2024
Dollar 18 miles NE of Cascade 2,665 acres 0% 8/5/2024
Goat 11 miles SE of Cascade 1,963 acres 0% 8/5/2024
Cause: Lightning (All Fires)
Total Incident Personnel: 925
Army firefighting soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington are currently working on the Boulder Fire and Snag Fire. They are using hoselays to mop-up and helping construct, improve and hold indirect line.
Weather | Anticipated Fire Behavior:
Erratic fire behavior occurred yesterday due to a change in wind speed, direction, and relative humidity. Winds reached 25 to 30 miles per hour, throughout the day, and shifted from the southeast back to the southwest. Low relative humidities of 27 to 28 percent contributed to active fire behavior and the production of smoke. Today, a low-pressure system with moisture will move into the area bringing with it cooler temperatures and a chance of showers in the morning and thunderstorms into the afternoon and evening.
Boulder Fire: https://tinyurl.com/ycdfv3tv
Firefighters continued to secure and hold the control line along the southern and northeastern edge of the fire after they applied direct firing operations to remove burnable vegetation. Containment lines cut off any movement of the fire eastward. Crews will continue to scout and monitor for future firing operations to clean up islands of unburned fuels within the interior of the fire boundary. Mop-up and monitoring will continue to increase the depth of containment lines.
Dollar Fire: https://tinyurl.com/bef6r3tz
Firefighters slowed the northern movement of the fire around the Needles area with direct and indirect firing operations to prevent the fire from advancing further north. The Army crews helped to plumb the lines in preparation for direct firing operations intended to increase and clean up the depth of unavailable fuels, which will enhance the containment efforts. Crews will continue to look for opportunities for direct firing operations when weather and safety permit to help secure and increase overall containment.
Snag Fire: https://tinyurl.com/4k9dk3mu
Firefighters working night shift had to use direct suppression to respond to forty new spot fires associated with the Snag Fire on Thursday evening into early Friday morning. On Friday, dozers installed control lines to contain the spot fires in the southern boundary of the fire’s edge. On the western portion of the fire, they completed firing operations to help reduce burnable vegetation between the Warm Lake Highway and the approaching active flames to slow the movement of the fire in that area. Smoke plumes were visible from Long Valley because of firing operations along the western boundary. Today, crews will continue to evaluate and mitigate hazards along the perimeter of the fire, especially along the Warm Lake Road, as well as continue to maintain, secure, and hold containment lines along all boundaries of the fire.
Wolf Creek Fire: https://tinyurl.com/mcksrfvh
Single and group tree torching occurred on the northern portion of the Wolf Creek Fire where flames remain active. Crews continued to monitor the edge of the fire for any interior hot spots and completed mop up where needed. Additionally, crews continued to complete rehabilitation and repair work along the dozer and handlines around the Little Weiser drainage. Crews will begin transitioning from direct suppression efforts to monitoring, and mopping up to increase the depth of the containment lines around the perimeter of the fire.
Goat Fire: https://tinyurl.com/2h4a3dvr
Fire activity on the Goat Fire increased because of a change in wind direction from Thursday into Friday. Crews will continue to monitor the fire with aerial resources to prevent the fire from impacting and advancing into the Clear Creek drainage area. The flames advancing to the north continue to run into previously burned fuels of the Cascade Complex. Firefighters will continue to evaluate values at risk to the south of the fire in order to minimize impacts.
Other fire information:
Middle Fork Complex (Nellie, Anderson, and Bulldog Fire): https://tinyurl.com/3rhawr5y
Wapiti Fire: https://tinyurl.com/yf7reydj
Bulltrout Fire: https://tinyurl.com/tatwwk5t
SNAG FIRE EVACUATION INFORMATION
The Valley County Sheriff’s Office issued a “ready” evacuation order for Warm Lake residents and the North Shore Lodge at Warm Lake on August 7. The map can be found on Inciweb: https://tinyurl.com/42auxnk8. A second “ready” evacuation order was issued on August 8 for the Horsethief area, including the YMCA Camp, and areas of Scott Valley. This map can also be found on Inciweb, with the relevant areas outlined in purple: https://tinyurl.com/4vfj657x
Review the READY, SET, GO evacuation procedure for Valley County: https://www.co.valley.id.us/ReadySetGo
For timely information on evacuations, check out your county’s emergency alert system.
- Valley County: https://www.co.valley.id.us/CompleteEmergencyNotificationandAlerting
- Adams County: https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/PublicUser.aspx?regionid=1077
ROAD CLOSURES
Warm Lake Highway Closure: The Valley County Sheriff’s Office is planning to allow residents and vetted contractors (those providing services to residents in the Warm Lake, Yellow Pine, and Big Creek areas) to come and go as needed without an escort along the Warm Lake Highway, dependent on weather and fire activity. The highway remains closed to the public and will only be open to those approved in advance by the Sheriff’s Office. For updates on county closures visit: https://www.co.valley.id.us/departments/SheriffsOffice.
FOREST CLOSURES
Hunting Closures: Prior to entering the backcountry, Idaho Fish and Game advises hunters to check with their local Forest Service ranger district offices or county sheriffs’ offices for fire closures in their hunt areas. For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/4td8hwzc
The Boise National Forest modified or expanded their wildfire closures on August 12, 2024, to address public and firefighter safety and respond to increased wildfire growth. This closure area begins at the south end of the Dollar/Oro (Snag) fire closure area and continues south to Crouch and the Banks-Lowman Hwy, and east to the 579, 563 and 582 roads.
Dollar Fire Closure:
Yesterday the Payette National Forest closed an area north of the area currently under closure by the Boise National Forest for public safety around the Dollar Fire. National Forest System trails #099, #100, #101, and #302 are impacted by the closure.
Wolf Creek Fire Closures: On the Payette National Forest, a closure includes popular National Forest System roads around the Wolf Creek fire such as: sections of NFS Road #1763 (West Mountain Jeep Trail), #835, #206, and #326. On the Boise National Forest, Forest Road #435 (Anderson Lake Road) was closed on August 1.
Boulder Fire Closures: The Boise National Forest has issued a closure order #0402-04-98 for National Forest System (NFS) roads, trails and lands encompassing the Boulder Fire. The closure was enacted to protect public safety and support fire suppression activities. The closure includes Blue Lake and Snowbank Mountain Road (#446) along with all #404 and #421 system roads.
For maps and more detailed descriptions of the closures on the Payette National Forest, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/payette/alerts-notices
For maps and more detailed descriptions of the closures on the Boise National Forest, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices
Fire Restrictions: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions have been issued for the Payette Fire Restrictions Area on the Payette National Forest and the West Central Mountains Fire Restrictions Area on the Boise National Forest. For more information on the restrictions and a very helpful interactive map, visit https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/fire-restrictions-finder/
Important Links
- Payette National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/payette
- Payette National Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PayetteNationalForest
- Boise National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/boise
- Boise National Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoiseNationalForest
- Idaho Department of Lands: https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/